Bruins can dig deeper

Their depth chart reveals no holes

They are among the league's unquestioned elites: Nicklas Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Marian Hossa. Together, they bring skill, speed, strength, two-way excellence, puck-moving ability, and hockey sense that any coach would love to deploy against the opponents' best.

Trouble is, they can't do anything when they're on the bench.

During the Bruins' we're-the-real-deal declaration against the Stanley Cup champion Red Wings Saturday, Blake Wheeler and David Krejci scored two of Boston's four goals. The five Detroit superstars weren't on the ice for either of them.

The Bruins' 4-1 victory before a sellout crowd at TD Banknorth Garden was one of 11 wins Boston rattled off in November, with the Wheeler and Krejci strikes underscoring perhaps the most significant reason the Bruins had their most successful month (23 points) since December of 1978 (24).

Depth.

Appropriately, Detroit coach Mike Babcock rolled out his top guns to counter Boston's top two lines, centered by Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron. But even a club as deep as Detroit isn't as stout lower in the lineup, such as its third defensive pairing of Brett Lebda and Andreas Lilja.

In the first period, Michael Ryder took advantage of an ill-timed jump-up by Lilja into the neutral zone. Lilja's misplay left Niklas Kronwall as the only defenseman back to fight off a two-on-one rush. For the last two games, Boston coach Claude Julien put a then-struggling Ryder with Krejci (currently a more gifted playmaker than Bergeron) in hopes of sparking the right wing's offense.

But Saturday, Ryder showed he can distribute the puck as well, dishing a tape-to-tape feed for Wheeler to wing past goalie Ty Conklin for the game's opening goal. Third-liners Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler, and Tomas Kopecky also were on the ice for Wheeler's goal.

In the third period, the Bruins sealed the win when Krejci made it a three-goal advantage. On the ice for Detroit: Lilja, Lebda, Kopecky, Filppula, and Derek Meech - solid players, but not game-breakers, who could have been used to cool off what has been Boston's hottest threesome.

"We have four lines that can get the puck in the net," Krejci said. "You know one night if there's one or two lines that are a little off, the other two lines can step up. That's what makes our team successful."

The depth has been evident throughout the lineup. Marco Sturm, the No. 2 left wing (projected before the season by vice president Cam Neely to score 40 goals), has missed the last six games because of a concussion. But Sturm has been replaced by Chuck Kobasew, who's riding a six-game scoring streak (4-3 -7). After returning from a fractured ankle, Kobasew skated on the fourth line with Stephane Yelle and Shawn Thornton. But Kobasew has climbed his way up the depth chart and has played the last two games on the No. 2 line with Bergeron, while also getting time on the No. 1 power-play unit.

Andrew Ference was the most consistent defenseman through 16 games, but he's out until January with a fractured right tibia. Second-year pro Matt Hunwick has slotted into Ference's spot on the second pairing, and all the 23-year-old has done is play smart positionally in his end and record a six-game point streak (3-5 -8) that was snapped Saturday.

Tim Thomas, third in the NHL in goals-against average (1.88) and second in save percentage (.940), would have been the likely starter Saturday after Manny Fernandez started the day before against the Islanders. But because Thomas had been sick, Fernandez got the call for a second straight day. Fernandez responded with a 29-save sparkler, making 24 of his stops over the first 40 minutes. Fernandez has won his last six starts, the longest winning streak for a Bruins goaltender since Andrew Raycroft posted six straight in 2003-04.

The Bruins lost Aaron Ward to a left leg injury in the first period that limited the top-pair defenseman to 3:43 of ice time. But the five remaining defensemen banded together and limited Detroit's powerful attack to five third-period shots. Ward's condition will be updated today, and although the Bruins don't play until Thursday against Tampa Bay, they may have to call up reinforcements from Providence (Matt Lashoff may get the call, although the righthanded-shooting Johnny Boychuk and Adam McQuaid may be considered) if Ward has to miss any time.

While players like Ward could benefit from the five-day gap between games, the Bruins just might want to keep on playing. In November, Boston went 11-1-0-1. During a 10-game stretch over 18 days, the Bruins grabbed 17 of 20 possible points. They've won nine straight at the Garden, the longest home winning streak since they claimed 11 consecutive victories in 1982-83.

"To be able to go through 10 in 18 days, you have to be disciplined. Extremely disciplined," said Julien. "That was also on the ice. The more we stayed disciplined, the more we were able to use our whole bench to our advantage.

"There were a lot of things put into place to be able to get through that stretch. I think the guys did a great job. In a way, you're kind of sad that it's over because you have a pretty good run going. You feel like you have some momentum going.

"So hopefully we won't lose that and we'll bring that with us to Florida."

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.